hcsceo Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 Just checking to see how everyone is coming on thier controller builds. I thought I'd share a photo of how mine is so far. I'm currently working on setup routines for easy end user configuration. The RTC, LCD, and 8 Button Keypad are all running off of 2 ports on the arduino leaving all the other ports still available. Enjoy. Steve Link to comment
evilc66 Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 Nice. Now get that skimmer working Link to comment
hcsceo Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 Nice. Now get that skimmer working LOL man you are killing me. Link to comment
johnamon Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 Vancouver Reefer / Evilc66, I fried one of my 2 buckpucks last night, screwing round with my ground supplies I looked closely at Vancouver's site, and at the PWM control of multiple buckpucks: Can anyone verify if they have tested this circuit, or can definately vouch for whether or not it will work? Thanks to you all who share your knowlege Link to comment
evilc66 Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 Thats one way to do it. You can drive the CTRL pin directly from the micro with a small current limiting resistor (100 ohm) without having to use the transistor, but using the transistor will allow you to drive more Buckpucks from a single pin without overloading it. Link to comment
Vancouver Reefer Posted June 3, 2009 Author Share Posted June 3, 2009 The Diagram above is how they are connected on the buckpucks webpage. I have had to put my project on hold for a while so i have not had chance to build it yet. VR Link to comment
johnamon Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 Thanks again evilc66, With the transistor arrangement, does the arduino still need to wired to he buckpuck LED - ? OR can it be on it's own ground? Looks to me like the transistor removes the requirement for the arduino's common ground, but i'm a total electronic dunce (mechanical engineer here!) I was confused at how to control 2 buckpucks by a single arduino if the arduino has to be grounded to all the buckpuck -ve's, and how that would impact running the buckpucks individually.... Link to comment
evilc66 Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 Having isolated grounds for multiple components that are connected together is typically a bad idea. Connecting all the grounds together won't cause any harm or complications, but will make things more stable once everything has the same ground reference. Just don't connect the LED ground to the supply ground. Very bad things happen then. The transistor justs shifts all the heavy lifting away from the output pin on the controller. Link to comment
johnamon Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 Sorry for kinda hijacking the thread guys, but I think we're all aiming toward the same goal! I have all the major components in place (minus one buckpuck )! Can evilc66 or vancouver tell me if I am looking along the right line? Once I have confirmed the layout, I will work on the circuit and hopefully have something worth showing (photo) by the end of the weekend. Just so's you all know, I have my real time clock (rtc) working, and an easy to use serial lcd from moderndevice.com working. I have an example small led binking at set times. The programming is easy, all I need to do is get these heavy electronics worked out! Link to comment
evilc66 Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 What are you doing with Buckpuck 2? Link to comment
darcurr Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 Having isolated grounds for multiple components that are connected together is typically a bad idea. Connecting all the grounds together won't cause any harm or complications, but will make things more stable once everything has the same ground reference. Just don't connect the LED ground to the supply ground. Very bad things happen then. The transistor justs shifts all the heavy lifting away from the output pin on the controller. +1000 to evil The more grounds you have on a dc system the more trouble you are begging for. Remember, never tie a power supply case ground to any part of your circuit. Link to comment
johnamon Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 What are you doing with Buckpuck 2? I am running one string of 6 XR-E R2's (WC) and one string of (4 Blues + 2 whites). I want to control the blue string independantly to be able to conrol color, and allow a more gentle "sunrise"/"sunset" Does the circuit schematic look any good, or have I missed something? I realise that i've missed out the dimming circuit on Buckpuck 2 in the diagram, but that is just for simplicity of the diagram, i will be pwm'ing both buckpucks! Link to comment
evilc66 Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 Thats what I was looking for. I figured you were doing the same as Buckpuck 1. The circuit is the same as what is listed in the datasheet, so you should be safe there. Start with the 5K ohm values for the resistor and see how that works out for you. Chances are you won't have to change anything. Link to comment
johnamon Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 excellent, I have a 0.5A fixed 5v regulator for the arduino which should be arriving in the post tomorrow, should have something working by sunday evening. I'll start minus the transistors and attempt PWM - > 100R -> cntrl I'll leave ref pin disconnected on the first attempt, but I have transistors in the post if it all goes wrong. Hopefully I won't destroy buckpuck numero 2 this time........ Link to comment
johnamon Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Hi all, I didn't manage to get any electronics done tonight I did manage to drill, and half tap my heatsink though I've attached my google sketchup, which is the template to which I have drilled / tapped. I may move the two centre led's out a bit, but I have a central bit of live rock which may benefit from some spot-lighting.... I'll update again when the electronics are working, John Heatsink.pdf Link to comment
The Propagator Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Here's my automated controller. I got the drop on all you fools ! I've had mine since the early 70's ! Link to comment
johnamon Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 Evilc66, I have some blue LED's and a buckpuck wired up to my power supply - no arduino connected. I put my digital multimeter between the CTRL and REF wires on the buckpuck, and it reported 15V between the wires!! I did some more testing and found that as I increased the supply voltage to the buckpuck the delta V between REF and CTRL increased to match the supply. Why is this, I thought that the potential difference was supposed to be 5v??? I checked the voltage across the LED's and it was ok at 3.43v Any help would be much appreciated. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 The reference line is just floating. As soon as you put a load on it, it should come down. It could even be as high as 10v once you put a pot/resistor across it. Either that, or the design of the reference voltage is a lot simpler than I assumed. It could be as simple as a voltage divider that is set to provide 5v at the minimum input voltage, and scales with the input voltage. Provided the control pin can handle the voltage, which I'm sure it will or it's a poor design, everything should work just fine. Link to comment
johnamon Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 Well progress has finally been made, I now have an Arduino based, real time clock controlled dimming LED setup! I only have one buckpuck wired in, but i'll get the next one wired up once i've soldered the rest of my LED's together. FYI, I have just run the PWM outputs directly to the buckpuck CTRL line. I'll post some (laughable) photos of my setup's test wiring later tonight. Thank you evilc66 for answering all my stupid questions Link to comment
Marian Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 Greetings all, I couldn't resist not to build on of this. Here is my build thread: http://reefprojects.com/w/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=8 cheers, Marian Link to comment
evilc66 Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 Dude! You're totally leaving us hanging here. Care to share some details on the controller side? Link to comment
Vancouver Reefer Posted June 15, 2009 Author Share Posted June 15, 2009 As of July 1st im back working again so i can full bore back on the Aquatroller! I have also aquired 4 peristaltic pumps for free so a doser is also going to appear!!! Watch this space!!! VR Dude! You're totally leaving us hanging here. Care to share some details on the controller side? Link to comment
evilc66 Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 Great. Looking forward to progress. Link to comment
Vancouver Reefer Posted June 16, 2009 Author Share Posted June 16, 2009 Yeah its been a long time coming!!!! It never helped walking into my den and seeing it all sitting there waiting for a cash injection!!!! But lots more ideas have been thought up for add ons!!!! Maybe even touch screen GUI!!!! Great. Looking forward to progress. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.